


A Million Little Things

by DizzyDrea



Series: Two Against the Storm [4]
Category: Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Coulson Lives, F/M, Flying, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-22
Updated: 2013-04-22
Packaged: 2017-12-09 04:05:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/769782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyDrea/pseuds/DizzyDrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There were a million little things about her that captivated him, but it was her competence that attracted him the most.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Million Little Things

**Author's Note:**

> I struggled with this story for weeks, for no reason I can figure out. I think I've finally beaten it into submission, though. None of this is canon-compliant, but I just couldn't resist the idea of Steve and Maria in a quinjet. So sue me. Also, I couldn't resist a little Phil Coulson, because _Coulson lives_ is canon now!
> 
> Disclaimer: The Avengers and all its particulars are the property of Marvel Studios, Walt Disney Studios, Joss Whedon, and a lot of other people who aren’t me. I am doing this for fun and for practice. Mostly for fun.

~o~

Captain Steve Rogers stood on the bridge of the newly-repaired helicarrier, feet shoulder-width apart, arms crossed, as though he were bracing against non-existent waves. 

It was the first time he'd been back on board since the invasion. It was an eerie feeling, remembering what happened and yet knowing that they'd won. And even though he'd only ever been on board the once, to him it didn't look any different.

He could almost sense the relief in the chatter around him. There were smiles and laughter, everyone seeming relaxed and comfortable as if they'd just met an old friend. Steve supposed it was as good a metaphor as any, considering that some of these people had served aboard her since her launch.

It was a familiar scene to him, one he'd seen a lot as he moved around Manhattan. People smiled easier now, laughed more, greeted one another as if they hadn't seen each other in forever instead of having only just met. Surviving something as awful as the invasion tended to bond people together, something he knew from hard-won experience.

"Captain."

Steve turned at the sound of his name, a smile breaking over his face as he recognized who had joined him.

"Agent Coulson," he said, smiling as he shook the other man's hand. "It's good to have you back, sir."

"It's good to be back," Phil said. His lips twitched up in that familiar not-quite smile that Steve remembered from the few times they'd met before the invasion. For him, that was tantamount to jumping up and down for joy.

"What are you doing here?"

"We're getting ready to deploy," Phil said. 

Steve glanced out at the flight deck, to the quinjet prepping for take-off far below them. He caught sight of Natasha's shock of red hair as she boarded the aircraft, and expected Clint wouldn't be far behind, though he couldn't pick out the younger man from the milling crowd. It seemed that Agents Romanov and Barton were nearly inseparable, even before the Avengers Initiative was born. It made sense, though. His memories of the two of them in battle were of a synchronized pair, two halves of one whole.

He nodded at Phil, knowing better than to ask where they were going. They still occasionally did work for SHIELD, especially when it involved Hydra and other high-value terrorist organizations. 

"Well, good luck," he said, instead. "Be safe out there."

Phil looked pleased at his words, though his expression never changed.

"Agent Coulson."

Both men turned, but it was Phil who responded. "Agent Hill. Wheels up in ten."

Maria Hill nodded at him. "Good luck."

"Captain," Phil said, turning back to Steve and shaking his hand once more.

"Is there any way I can get you to call me Steve?" he asked as he shook Phil's hand.

Maria snickered. Steve glared at her, but it lacked any heat. Phil's ears, he noticed, turned faintly pink.

"I'd like that."

Phil turned and made his way off the bridge, and Steve noted he still hadn't called him by his first name. He turned to Maria and found her at her station, smirking at him in that way she had that told him she knew what was going on and found it supremely amusing. He shrugged, not knowing what else to say. He was Phil Coulson's boyhood hero, and for all that he was just a man, and on the senior agent's team now, it seemed a lifetime of hero worship wouldn't be undone in just a few short weeks.

He'd just have to keep at it.

"So, are you ready?" Maria asked, breaking into his thoughts.

Steve smiled. "As I'll ever be."

"Then let's go."

"Wait, you're going to teach me?" he asked, surprised.

Maria turned, smirking at him once more. "What, you intimidated by an instructor that's prettier than you?"

"No!" Steve exclaimed, taking a step forward. "Just, I guess I didn't know you could fly. Or that you'd want to teach me."

"Yes, I can fly a quinjet," she said, her smirk softening into a genuine smile. "I don't get to go up all that often anymore, but I actually enjoy it. And I don't mind teaching you. I have a feeling any of the others might spend the whole flight staring at you, and get very little actual instructing done."

Steve could feel his cheeks flush at that. Sometimes it was damned inconvenient, this whole being a living legend thing.

"Okay, then," he said instead. "Let's go."

They headed for the locker room to suit up before heading out to the flight deck. The quinjet carrying Agents Coulson, Romanov and Barton had long-since departed, so the activity level on the deck was down to nearly nothing. Maria stopped to talk to the deck officer for a moment before leading him over to a quinjet parked to the side.

She activated a switch in a panel to the side of the rear hatch, and the ramp lowered, allowing them to climb inside. He'd been aboard a few of the SHIELD-standard aircraft, so he knew his way around by now, though this time it felt a little different.

He followed Maria to the cockpit, but instead of letting him take the co-pilot's seat, she pointed him to the pilot's seat and took the other for herself.

"The plane captain and I have already done the pre-flight inspection," she said as her fingers skimmed over the controls. "So I'm going to walk you through the on-board pre-flight."

Steve settled in, buckling his harness and paying close attention to everything she was saying. The quinjet was infinitely more complex than anything he'd learned to fly previously, but flying was flying, and he found himself anticipating Maria's commands before she'd issued them.

She leaned back in surprise after ten minutes of him pre-empting her instructions with his own guesses and logical next steps. "Are you sure you've never flown one of these before?"

"The serum," he said, shrugging. "One of the unintended side effects was enhanced learning ability. When they were still trying to figure out what to do with me, they stashed me in flight school. Took me about two, maybe three weeks to get the hang of it. It came in pretty handy during the tour, and later with the Commandos."

He saw her mask of scepticism fall away into understanding, and was relieved when she didn't ask any more questions. It had been a bitter pill to swallow, accepting that everything about him had been changed by the serum. He'd wanted it, had been willing to do whatever it took to serve his country, but the price had been high, maybe higher than he'd anticipated. He'd mourned the loss of his former self long ago, but still found it hard to talk about sometimes.

"You ready?" she asked, rather than try to draw him out. For that he was grateful.

He nodded, and she sat back, allowing him to take control. He communicated with the command center, and then smoothly lifted off from the helicarrier deck.

They spent an hour aloft, going through the various scenarios he was likely to encounter while flying. He appreciated Maria's straightforward style; she gave him the information he needed without frills, concise and detailed at the same time. 

As flying the jet became more comfortable, he allowed his thoughts to drift to the woman sitting next to him. She wasn't one for small talk, and yet their conversation that night in Key West hadn't ever waned. She had a surprising knowledge of pop culture, so they'd traded notes on what things were different and which were the same across the decades. It had been fun, and he'd found himself wishing they could do it again.

He was definitely attracted to her. There were a million little things about her that captivated him, but it was her competence that attracted him the most. The way she was good at her job and commanded the respect of those around her. Peggy had been the same way, and while she'd made her attraction to him known, he couldn't read Maria well at all. It didn't stop him wanting to try, just left him at a loss as to how. And the thought of asking anyone for help—because if Tony Stark found out, he'd never live it down—left him cringing.

Those were thoughts for another time, though, when he didn't have a multi-million dollar aircraft under his hands.

"Ready to head back?" Maria asked, neatly breaking into his thoughts.

He smiled sheepishly at her, but if she'd noticed at all, she didn't say anything. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. It's movie night, tonight. If I'm late, I have a feeling Tony would track me down and drag me back to the Tower."

"Is that a thing now?" she asked, eyebrow arched. "Team movie night?"

Steve shrugged as he banked the plane around to head back to the carrier. "I guess. With Clint and Natasha gone, it'll probably end up being more of a video game and pizza night. Apparently, I kick ass at Call of Duty."

"So you say," she said.

"Really?" he asked, turning to look at her. She had this smug sort of smile on her face, as if she knew something he didn't. "Okay, what's that look for?"

"Nothing."

Steve narrowed his eyes, trying to figure her out. It hit him all of a sudden. "You play, don't you." 

It wasn't a question.

"Maybe," she said. "A little."

He raised his eyebrow, the way he'd seen her do a dozen times. Her lips curled in a slight smirk, clearly not impressed with his gravitas—or lack thereof. His face smoothed into a smile, one of the sweet ones Pepper claimed were hard to resist, and he saw Maria crumble before his eyes.

She shrugged. "I have brothers."

"Join us," he said without thinking about it first. He could see her hesitating, so he rushed on. "Please. It'll be fun." He paused, then sweetened the pot. "You can personally kick Tony's ass."

She tilted her head, an almost feral smile crossing her face. Apparently, no one could resist the prospect of kicking Tony Stark's ass. "Okay."

"Okay," he said, more relieved than he probably ought to be. It wasn't like they were going on a date or anything. Still, any time he got to spend with her, he was happy to have.

He landed the plane smoothly, taking a deep breath as he killed the engines.

"That was fantastic," he said, smiling over at her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she said, smiling back. "You did really well. I'll make the entry in the SHIELD database that you're cleared to fly whenever you need to."

"Thanks," he said again, suddenly at a loss for what to say.

They fell into silence as they collected their gear and headed for the back of the plane. As she reached for the ramp control, Steve reached out and laid a hand over hers.

"Tonight at the Tower, seven o'clock. Any special requests?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. For a brief moment, he was afraid that he'd misread her acceptance from earlier, but her words put him immediately at ease. "No Hawaiian. Pineapples do not belong on a pizza."

"No pineapple. Check," he said, unable to suppress his grin. "Though, without Clint, I doubt anyone will order that."

Their eyes locked, and it was like a bolt of electricity shooting down his spine. He didn't stop to think, just leaned in and kissed her, soft and sweet, still chaste but with a whole lot of meaning behind it that he didn't want to look too deeply at yet.

When he pulled back, her eyes were still closed and her lips were slightly parted, but there was a look on her face that he didn't think he'd forget, even if he lived to be a thousand years old. She was still in her flight suit, her hair pulled back in an efficient bun, but she was more beautiful than he could ever remember her being. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, her lower lip caught between her teeth.

"See you later, Captain," she said softly.

He sighed. "Is there any way I could get you to call me Steve?"

She smiled up at him. "I'd like that."

Her fingers moved under his, and then the ramp was lowering and she was walking away, a slight sashay to her hips that he knew was for his benefit. 

Not that he minded. He did have a date with her, after all.

~Finis


End file.
